Lessons learned from coin collecting

The value of your collection isn't (or I should say should not be) measured by dollar signs, but what you get out of the experience. Otherwise you should probably find something more lucrative to do.
Guy~

 

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Two things I learned from collecting ancients:

1. When a seller says that their British uncleaned coins are very fragile and should be cleaned gently, they really aren't kidding. It turns out that a toothbrush can do a surprising amount of damage to a coin.

2. Don't jam thin, cracked silver coins in a tight pants pocket.

 

Get a bigger safe than you think you will need. They fill up fast.

 

If you go to a coin show, don't buy a (common) coin you want right at the first booth where you see it. The dealer at the other end of the hall may have it in a better condition or at a better price.

Christian

 

Define "anal" ...lol, j/k

 

There are no really rare coins after 1953 and only a few after even 1938. No proof sets, no mint sets, no singles. There are die varieties that are rare but no normal coins.
When you combine that fact with the higher mintages they become even less rare.
There is a market for this stuff but it's limited in value or price returned.
You can sell these coins but it will have a limited appeal reserved for people building sets or collection of such.
It gets worse - after 1999 95% of them, mint sets, proof sets, singles are worth on average 45% of original purchase price if that.
The mint has done the same thing the USPO, the baseball card, comics and so on have done in the past. They started mass producing this stuff and there is more on the market than there are people who want or need it.
A rare coin is always a rare coin and one that is not, well, it's not.
Nothing makes a rare coin but mintage, availibilty, popularity and supply and demand - it's really very simple.
Those 1916-D dimes are rare and hard to find nice in prices we can afford but yet they keep moving up. The only element the 1916-D dime does not have is availbility, they are availible at most every show and shop. So is the 09-S VDB, the 55 DDO, that 1942/1 dime, the 1972 DDO and many more are only high in price because they are eagerly sought and keep going up but are availible.
This gives you 2 things, it will cost you but not hard to find.
The 1912-S Nickle in VF-35 or above, the 27-S quarter in XF, the Barber half in in AU, the bust anything in XF, that 22-No"D" are rare coins across the board and fit in every rare coin criteria!

All modern mint products in TPG high end slabbs are not rare even in MS-70. The reason is if common in slabbed MS-69 and there are million out there yet not graded (which there are) that market could and most likley will topple.
We have already seen this numerous times.

Gold and silver have never been rare, are not now, and will not be in the future. PM's come and go, prices rise and fall, it is recycled and mined every day and as buillion never gets used up but simply just returns.
Over and over again gold and silver will go up then it will go down. Anyone pinning thier hope of future profits that gold will be $2000 and silver over $30 have about the same odds, (maybe much better odds) that it will also be $700 for gold and $8 for silver or less. This is proved by prices in 2002 and it was not that long ago. I bought proof 1 onze AGE at $300 and silver for $5 for silver eagles.

Books and magazines are your very best bargin in coins or anything else for that matter. The knowledge gained and enjoyed form strudy are way far and above what you can generally get from collecting alone.

Don't buy coins that have problems or are in strange grades. Coin in MS-61 or MS-60 are generally no better than AU-58 coins, often not as good.
Buy what pleases you not what the slab says, or the market or the fad of the moment - if you carefully select problem free coins in nice grades you will be rewarded ten times over. A coin with a problem or stange grade will haunt you each time you look at it.

Most important take your time. It talks about five years to know anything, 10 years to know something and about 20 years to really know what you are doing 75% of the time - this is true for each and everthing in life including coins, but, "where's the fire"? Talk your time and enjoy the ride cause what else you gonna do?

 

I like what Ben writes......

 

We do pride ouselves around here on "the gift of gabb" and pursue it figgerously.
One thing we don't do is lie - now we may enhance, ad lib, stretch out, eleborate, color, draw out, hit upon, not hit at all, go on too long, or just plain bore you to tears but we do not lie. It's in our nature to at least hit some points of the truth to keep you hanging on for for what we like to call, "a good story". You get a bonus with folks like us whether want it or not.

The very worst mistake a person from "someplace else" can make in approaching an East Tennessee'an for information or direction is to get right to the point of what they need. We don't trust that at all but if you come in and ask about our town, or how green those hills are or the weather and then get to your point we would give you the shirt off our backs.

You can like us or hate us but you can't ignore us. After all we like to talk and tell stories so much we volunteered for every war and crises just we so could go talk and tell stories with strangers someplace else.

 

As others have mentioned, patience is really important. Between coin shows and online dealers, you can find (almost) any coin you want at any time.

But if you rush it, you won't get the best possible condition or price on your purchase.

 

a person with such attention to detail that the obsession becomes an annoyance to others, and can be carried out to the detriment of the anal-retentive person.

I have to be careful not to get too caught up in the minutiae of collecting! When I saw the website that listed about 40 different variations of the formative years penny reverse, (magnifying glasses recommended) I remembered to pull back!

 

I am an indian And know some of my friends have old age coins, Will that is worth for sell.?

 

Oh Yeah...when I see a picture of last year's cent with a bunch of little red arrows pointing every which way...for no apparent reason, I just "...walk on by".

 

I learned not to shop for coins so fast because if I take my time I do alot better and in the long run I will be alot happier. I can actually breathe when I shop for coins now. lol

Try to remember everything about coins that you possibly can. Even if you don't collect the series of coins that are being talked about! You never know how remembering something about coins you don't collect can help you. Trust me, it will help you!!

I learned that real coin collectors don't call Lincoln cents pennies and real coin collectors call the front of a coin the obverse, and the back of the coin the reverse. I didn't get this for the longest time, well it seemed like a long time to me. lol

I learned right here on this forum that I had bought a counterfeit quarter and I didn't even know it until I posted a pic and someone brought it to my attention. Way to go CT!!

 

Definitely!

 

I agree. Stay away from Manufactured Collectibles.

 

Well what do you call them then??????

 

i've learned you can't have too many books about coins.

 

Remember when someone gives "advice", it usually involves a great deal of opinion..often it isn't fact. Unless they offer proof you can see, taste or feel, it usually is the equalivant of "I don't really know", or "I'm guessing".

 

Doesn't advice involve opinion by it's nature? Isn't it supposed to be based on one's personal experience? When "Facts" start to speak for themselves, Limbaugh and Obama will agree on them.

 

Facts are facts. Opinions aren't. You want to preface everything by IMO, I got no problem with that. I often want opinions of more experienced folks. I just don't want them misrepresented as facts.
Opinions can be right or wrong. Facts can only correct.